As I've described to so many people, the original Borderlands scratched an itch that I didn't even know I had. I've always had a slight aversion to RPGs, but Borderlands showed me that it wasn't the strict elements of RPGs that turned me off, but the combat. Genre blending is a bit of a newer trend in the game industry and the folks at Gearbox really struck a wonderful chord creating a game that throws together shooters and RPGs. Games like Bioshock, and even Mass Effect were great, but I don't think the marriage of the two genres was complete in those. Those games were awesome in their own right, but they tended to lean on one side more than the other.
That simple yet in depth formula continues in BL2. Part first person shooter, part MMO style RPG, part Diablo loot hunting... BL2 delivers on all the familiar fronts from the first game. The cartoonish cel-shaded style returns which is an appropriate fit for over the top, psychotic world. It feels like a bit of a cop-out, but it's easy to say that if you liked the first game, BL2 is a safe bet.
Things that have changed:
- Character customization has gotten better than just simple color selection, but I'm still a little surprised that there isn't more specific customization. Basically you get to choose between a head and a body type (which also dictates the color scheme), all revolving around the general theme of your class. With the crazy amount of guns in the game all with unique stats and characteristics, I would have expected individual clothing pieces to be swapped, changed, etc., but it seems that Gearbox doesn't want to hand that over to players for some reason.
- In general, I've found more loot on the ground than I have in chests, which is a switch from the first game. Very rarely in the first game would I find anything of value from downed baddies, but now, all the good stuff seems to be coming from them... The game drops rarer loot when you play with friends and have more people in your party, so that might be contributing to this trend. I really liked finding chests, waiting for it to open, then being surprised by what was inside... this still happens, but definitely not as frequently as before.
- The naming system for weapons has varied somewhat, which is confusing. Every gun in the first game was randomly generated, given a unique name (usually including numbers and characters) based on what the gun did. A modder could create his own weapon and it would have a unique name due to the specific attributes contributed to it. Now the naming system is all a word based system and you need to read the specific stats or descriptions to discover the subtle (and sometimes important) differences. For example, relatively early in the game a character gives you a special weapon called the Teapot. Everyone in our party received the same weapon, with the same name, but all of the stats were slightly different. One did more damage, one had deeper mags, and one fired 2 shots per round at a cost of accuracy. I don't mind the new naming system, but by the end of my run with the first game I was able to identify some of my favorite weapons just by their description and if looting for weapons, I could tell just by the name if the gun was worth looking into.
- The new quest organization system is really elegant. Similar to the first game, active/completed quests are prompted in their own menu, but now quick travel screen will let you know if an area you are considering travelling to has any active quests. "While you're there..." will let you know what else you could do in an area if you're just passing through. Not groundbreaking stuff, but definitely more streamlined than before.
- I'm only about halfway through my level cap, but the story so far is better. Many of the jokes and character interactions do hinge on having previous knowledge of the first games characters (including DLC) but it is still fun regardless. Without spoilers, it's just a better story that is told in a more cohesive fashion than previously. It doesn't make sense at times, but let's face it... Borderlands isn't the type of game you play for engrossing narrative. It helps drive the gameplay, but the gameplay is so intrinsically addictive you could play with the story off and still have a good time.
- The jump in / jump out has been drastically improved. From the home menu you can see all of your friends who are playing, what class they are playing as, and their level. (very similar interface as Halo Reach) Scrolling over them will let you know how close of a match you would be if you joined in with them. XP is then rewarded appropriately, but I don't know if it adjusts based off of rank or not. As best I can tell, everyone gets the same XP, but it appears to be scaled back for someone who is ranked significantly higher than the game's host. This makes it fair for other players who aren't as far in the game, or for players who want to help their buddies catch up but don't want to be super overpowered. Whatever they did, it works.
- Badass Rank is new, replacing the gun proficiencies from the first game. Instead of using weapons frequently and becoming more proficient with them (reload speed, recoil, etc), in game "badass challenges" will award you Badass Rank and Badass tokens to redeem for skill bumps. Want more health, or get more recoil reduction? Apply the tokens appropriately. Badass challenges happen all the time, totally unprompted, so you get many tokens to spend. I get the idea that Badass Rank will get very high due to many play throughs... AND Badass Rank follows your console profile, not the character, so once you get Badass, you stay that way with all of your characters.
- On a similar note, Claptrap now offers a special safe where you can share weapons and items found between your profiles. Found a gun that would be great for another character/class you have? Save it there, then pick it up later. Cool idea.
This post ran a little longer than I thought it would, like many things I write... congrats if you made it this far. I'm obviously a big fan of the game and could recommend it to just about anyone, especially if you enjoyed the first game.
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